You don’t need a Hollywood effects team to look convincingly undead. Whether you’re going for “just got bitten five minutes ago” or “has been decomposing since before jazz was invented,” zombie makeup is all about layering, texture, and commitment. This guide breaks it down by decay level—so you can choose your apocalypse timeline and build from there.

Some places host zombies. New Orleans understands them. This city already lives at the crossroads of history and myth, celebration and shadow, pageantry and the paranormal. So when zombies show up—whether in stories, costumes, or events—they don’t feel like a gimmick. They feel… natural. Here’s why New Orleans is the perfect city for the undead.

When most people think of zombies, they picture shambling corpses, apocalyptic survival, and the familiar rule: aim for the head. But the zombie didn’t begin as a movie monster. Its origins are far older, deeper, and rooted in spiritual belief, colonial history, and the very real fear of losing one’s freedom. To understand the zombie, you have to look past Hollywood—and toward Haiti.

Few debates ignite zombie fans faster than this one: Fast zombies or slow zombies? Do you fear the relentless shuffle of an unstoppable horde—or the terrifying sprint of something that shouldn’t be able to run? The answer says a lot about what kind of horror gets under your skin. But this argument isn’t just fandom noise. The speed of zombies has always reflected the fears of the era that created them. To understand why, we have to rewind—way back.

What happens when fitness meets horror, costuming meets community, and a little adrenaline gets thrown into the mix? You get a Zombie Run—one of the most wildly entertaining event formats to shamble its way across the globe. From city streets to wooded trails, zombie runs have become a worldwide tradition, blending athletic challenge, immersive theater, and a shared love of the undead. But this phenomenon didn’t appear overnight. Like any good monster story, it evolved.

In New Orleans, Halloween isn’t a single night—it’s a season. And one of its most adrenaline-fueled traditions is the Annual New Orleans Zombie Run, a high-energy, immersive experience where costumes collide with cardio and the streets transform into a living (and undead) playground. This isn’t just a race. It’s a chase. A spectacle. A love letter to New Orleans’ obsession with theatricality, storytelling, and doing everything just a little bit extra.

You don’t need a Hollywood budget—or a professional makeup trailer—to look like you just crawled out of the apocalypse. In fact, the best zombie costumes are often the scrappiest, grimiest, most creatively unhinged ones. Whether you’re running for your life or joining the horde, here’s how to build a killer zombie costume that looks incredible, survives movement, and keeps your wallet very much alive.

Before the floats roll, before the brass bands blast, and before the cocktail-fueled conga lines take over the French Quarter—there’s the shuffle. The groan. The blood-spattered sneakers pounding the pavement in undead unison. We’re talking about the New Orleans Zombie Run—the gory, glorious, adrenaline-fueled tradition that kicks off Halloween weekend like only this city can.